Tahoe Blues

by Lane, Aubree

  There were some big flaws in Cara’s theory that neither she nor Mrs. Grimes had considered. Why would Lisa work with Duncan so he could become Cara’s Knight in Shining Armor? Why would she help him swoop in and save the day? The man was far from gallant and the only time he appeared chivalrous was when he was trying to woo a fair maiden into his bed. If Duncan and Lisa were still together, the last thing she would want is for her boyfriend to reunite with his ex-wife.

  Tanner wasn’t naive, he knew Duncan could have paid Lisa to do his dirty work and that she found a way to slip by Mrs. Grimes’ eagle eye, but Tanner found that possibility hard to swallow. Lisa genuinely seemed to want a fresh start. Her sincerity had felt real. Nothing about any of her actions or manner led him to believe Cara’s rash assumptions had any teeth behind them.

  “Mrs. Grimes,” he began as they grew closer to the office where Lisa worked, “will you at least try to be subtle? We don’t want to scare her off.”

  Mrs. Grimes turned her pale gray eyes on him. The determined look on her face stopped him in his tracks. “We don’t have much time, TJ. We can’t pussy-foot around the bush with this girl.”

  “Don’t you mean, beat around the bush?”

  “What’s that boy?” she asked with a devilish look in her eye. “You beat your bush?”

  Tanner rolled his eyes. He had fallen into her trap once again. He wondered if she would ever grow up and act her age. If she did, he knew he probably wouldn’t enjoy her company nearly as much. “You are a dirty old woman,” he admonished.

  Mrs. Grimes shook her head and smiled. “Lighten up, boy. You take life much too seriously. What do you think I’m going to do, duct tape her to a chair and slap her around until she talks?”

  That was exactly the vision which crossed his mind. Tanner gave Mrs. Grimes the once over to make sure she didn’t have a roll of the gray tape anywhere on her person. Once he was convinced she wasn’t too much of a threat to his unsuspecting employee, Tanner opened the door to the minuscule office and released the Kraken.

  Lisa Hill sat behind her desk, sorting through the latest batch of invoices. Her flaming red hair flowed in thick tresses down her back. Wearing a simple blouse and well-worn jeans, the soft material caressed the curves of her voluptuous body. Every ounce of Lisa was laced with sex appeal. Tanner could picture her in a smoky casino dealing cards at a Blackjack table. To her credit, she tried to tone it down, but her sensuality poured out of her.

  Tanner was shocked at the new paradigm presented before him. He had always viewed Lisa as helpless and in need of saving. With Mrs. Grimes by his side, Tanner finally understood why Cara was so jealous and suspicious of her. The woman had been around the block. She was Ginger to Cara’s, Mary Ann, or Jessica Rabbit to Cara’s, Dolores. Everything about Lisa emitted sex and deceit, while Cara was, in some ways, and he thanked the lord for the ways in which she was not, the innocent girl next door.

  Tanner pulled back and tried not to paint Cara as light to Lisa’s dark, but there seemed to be little middle ground. Cara had been a faithful wife while Lisa was the other woman. Tanner had placed all the blame squarely on Duncan’s shoulders and none of it on Lisa’s. Today he wasn’t so sure his assumptions were correct.

  The look in Lisa’s eyes showed suspicion, and he knew she’d been waiting for this moment to arrive. She sat straight up and braced herself for what was to come.

  Mrs. Grimes was the first to speak. “Hello, dear,” she started off kindly. “I hope you don’t mind if we ask you a couple of questions?”

  Lisa didn’t back down and took up a firm defense. “No, I did not sneak into Cara Greene’s home and frame her for taking money from the gala.” She rose from her chair and leveled a glare at Tanner. “I haven’t seen Duncan since that night, nor have I spoken to him. I’m sorry for messing where I shouldn’t have been messing.” She placed her hands on her hips and her voice rose in pitch. “I didn’t know Cara was living here when I applied for the position, and if you feel you’ve made a mistake by hiring me, it’s one that’s easily rectified. I can be gone in as little as fifteen minutes.”

  Mrs. Grimes cut Tanner a sideways grin. “Spunky little thing. She’s not stupid either. I think I like her.”

  This was not the dreaded show down either he or Lisa had been expecting. The redhead’s brows were furrowed in confusion when she slipped back down into her seat. Mrs. Grimes had caved awfully easy, and Tanner suspected the sly old woman had something up her sleeve.

  Mrs. Grimes planted her weathered hands on Lisa’s desk. Leaning over, she came nose to nose with the younger woman. Her voice dripped with contempt when she said, “Then I’m sure you won’t mind helping Cara out, as it appears as if you owe her one.”

  Lisa rolled her chair back away from the force of Mrs. Grimes threatening glare. She crossed her arms over her voluptuous chest and sighed. Defeat was written all over her face. Her eyes darted back and forth as she contemplated whether or not to band together with the quirky group of two. “Sure, why not,” Lisa conceded. “We’ll call ourselves ‘The hunk, the hanky, and the whore.’ What could possibly go wrong?”

  Mrs. Grimes undaunted by Lisa’s barb tucked the little white handkerchief back up her sleeve and said with confidence. “With the Triple H threat breathing down Duncan Alexander’s neck, absolutely nothing.”

  Tanner scratched his cheek. Whore didn’t begin with ‘H’, but he decided not to correct their notorious ringleader.

  “I suggest we all go back to my place and enjoy some apple fritters and coffee while we discuss our strategy.” Mrs. Grimes said as she walked back towards the door.

  Tanner followed but turned back to Lisa when she began to rise from her seat. “Would you mind finishing those invoices first?” He pointed at the gray haired goddess of baked goods. “She’s a little overenthusiastic and doesn’t realize work needs to come before one of her crazy schemes. Thanks for humoring her.” He took a few steps further away and grabbed the door knob. “Don’t worry. I’m sure there will be plenty of fritters left. Mrs. Grimes doesn’t make a small batch of anything, and I’m sure she won’t mind making a fresh pot of coffee when you arrive.”

  Lisa nodded and eased back into her chair. “I shouldn’t be more than twenty minutes or so.”

  Tanner closed the door behind him and caught up with the mastermind behind the infamous, and more than likely doomed, Cara Caper.

  Mrs. Grimes narrowed her eyes in disgust. “Humor me?”

  Tanner raised his hands in disbelief. “Don’t give me that look. You’re nuts and you know it.”

  “I am not nuts TJ, I’m wily. There’s a big difference.”

  “You’re nuts,” he corrected her. “You just brought the enemy into our camp. Face it, you took one look into her sultry brown eyes and you caved worse than any man ever has.”

  She shook her head. “I’ve been around more beautiful women in my life.” Mrs. Grimes stopped and cocked her head flirtatiously. “Back in the day, I was even considered one of them,” she teased. “I didn’t cave. I always planned on recruiting her.”

  Tanner couldn’t comprehend the reasoning behind this. “Why?”

  Mrs. Grimes smiled and slipped her arm around his. She patted his hand and with only a hint of patronization said, “You have a lot to learn, my friend.”

  Chapter Ten

  Cara’s father arrived on her doorstep less than five hours after her phone call, which informed her parents of her legal problems. The news he brought was devastating. Her mother was ill, and Willa Greene sent her husband to tell their daughter exactly what that entailed.

  Cancer, the dreaded word turned Cara’s world upside down. Blood rushed to her head and her father’s next words were muddled. Like the teacher in a Charlie Brown cartoon, all she heard was wa waaa wa waa wa. Oliver Greene’s mouth moved, but Cara couldn’t understand a thing her father was saying.

  When the fog dissipated, she turned to find her dad already waiting with open arms. Her throat caught, and she
could no longer hold back the wave of emotion building inside her. She flew to her dad and cried. In his comforting embrace Cara let it all out. She knew he wouldn’t let go, so she clung to him tighter than she had since she was a hormonal teenager trying to navigate the horrors of high school.

  Cara tried to spare her parents the worry and kept most her problems with Duncan to herself. She refused to run home and had been determined to stand on her own two feet. She thought she’d been fairly successful, but having her dad here made her realize what a fool she’d been. They were her family. She had shut out the two most important people in her life and now she was paying the ultimate price. Her mother was ill, far sicker than she’d been led to believe, and Cara could tell by how ragged her father looked that they were short on time. If she’d gone home like a good daughter, she would have backed out of the gala commitment and could not have been held responsible for the misappropriated funds.

  “I should have come home. I’m nothing but a selfish brat,” she sobbed onto her father’s shoulder.

  Her dad gripped her arms and stood back. With a little distance between them, he looked down into her eyes. “What are you talking about?” he asked softly. “How does being strong and independent translate into selfishness?”

  “Mom needed me.”

  “Mom needed rest,” he countered. “There wasn’t anything you could do. All you need to do is love her.” He smiled kindly. “She’s very uncomfortable right now. She barely tolerates me. I’m pretty sure she would have kicked you out after a couple of days.” Oliver Albert Greene hugged his daughter tight and with soft reassurance said, “She didn’t want you to see her so sick. She wanted you to remember her as she used to be, but the moment she heard you were in trouble, she sent me to you.”

  “How sick is she, Dad?”

  “About as sick as you can get. She has refused any more chemo, so it’s up to God now.”

  Cara’s anguish over being shut out spilled out, and she pushed back against her father’s chest. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Oliver grabbed her close and cooed into her ear. “Hush, baby girl. She’s doing this her way. She loves you more than life itself, which is why she wanted to save you from having to worry about her.”

  Cara clutched her father’s jacket and burrowed her face in his now wet shirt. “I was trying to do the same thing.”

  Oliver chuckled sadly. “Like mother, like daughter.”

  He guided her over to the sofa and sat her down. Cara grabbed a throw pillow and laid her head in her dad’s lap. Oliver petted her hair. Without looking, she knew his eyes would be warm and caring.

  Her dad was a gentle man who hardly ever raised his voice. For a long time Cara believed her mother ran rough shod over him, but as she matured and wised up, she realized her dad would have given her mother the world. He loved her that much. She also knew without a shadow of a doubt that the same was true for her mom. There was very little take in her parents’ marriage and a whole lot of give, and Cara dreamed of having the same thing for herself.

  The doorbell rang and both Cara and her father jumped at the sound.

  The eyeball door flew open and caught Leah by surprise. “That was fast.” She brushed past the red-eyed Cara with bags full of Chinese Food. She set the packages down on the dining table and turned around. “Have you been crying, and what the heck happened to the inside of your door? It looks like someone took a chisel to it.” She looked up and saw Cara’s dad sitting on the sofa. “Hi, Mr. Greene, I see Cara finally called you. I hope I brought enough food.” She looked around the room. “Where’s Mrs. Greene?”

  Cara and Mr. Greene looked at each other. They both sucked in a breath, and Leah braced herself for whatever it was she was about to hear.

  Cara gripped Leah’s hand and they joined Oliver at the kitchen counter as he opened a bottle of wine he brought from his private label. Leah took a sip from the glass he handed her and sighed, “Willa’s not here is she. I know that woman. She’d be here if possible.” Leah rubbed her chin. “She must be really sick.” She waved her hand when Cara opened her mouth. “You don’t have to tell me. I can see that it’s not good.” Leah closed her eyes and tried to wrap her head around Cara’s vibrant loving mom being so ill that she couldn’t come to support her daughter. “So what do we do now?”

  Oliver unpacked the food containers. “We eat a good meal, drink some fine wine, and take comfort in knowing how much Willa loves us.” He raised his glass in salute and drank down the contents in its entirety.

  “How can you be so calm? Mom is dying.” Cara cried out.

  Oliver handed his daughter a goblet filled with the nectar of the gods. “This has been coming on for quite some time. I’m about to lose the love of my life. I assure you, daughter, I am far from calm.”

  Cara accepted the glass and followed her father’s lead and threw back the wine.

  Leah groaned. “I hope you called your lawyer and had him amend your ankle monitor agreement.” More than not wanting to see Officer Nate Waters again, Leah didn’t want Cara being re-arrested at such a tumultuous time.

  Cara’s eyes grew wide. She rushed to the kitchen and smashed a glass under the water dispenser on the outside of her refrigerator. She downed it faster than she had the wine. Then she grabbed a plate and began dumping Chicken Chow Mein onto it. Bite after bite she forked into her mouth, hardly taking the time to chew. “Fill me another glass of water, Leah.”

  Oliver observed his daughter quietly. After she consumed a hefty amount of the food Leah brought, he scratched his neck and asked, “So no alcohol while that thing is on your leg?”

  Cara nodded and gulped down one final bite. “Not only that, but Leah had a thing going with the officer who keeps an eye on the damn thing. It didn’t last long. Leah figured out he was only trying to gather intel on us.” She shook her head in disgust. “I still think that should be against the law. Talk about fraud, the man totally misrepresented himself.”

  Oliver ran his hand across his balding head. “Do you want me to go kick his ass?”

  Leah laughed out loud. “Hell yeah, we do.”

  Cara smiled and scooped some fried rice and broccoli beef onto the other plates. “Sorry, I kind of devoured the Chow Mein. I hope you guys are good with what’s left, because I can’t go out and get us more.”

  After Leah left and Cara settled her dad in her bedroom for the night, she stepped into the living room and dumped a blanket and a pillow onto the sofa. She eyed her cell phone on the coffee table. She was still convinced Duncan could stop this insanity with one phone call. He had the power to pull the plug on her punishment with a flick of a switch. Cara prayed she would be able to get home to her mother before it was too late. She picked up the phone and called her ex-husband.

  A familiar sleepy voice answered. “Babe,” he said softly, “are you okay?”

  If only he’d asked that question a few more times while they were married. She had no reason to believe the concern he showed now was genuine. “Do you remember me telling you that my mother wasn’t feeling well?”

  “Of course I do. How is Willa doing?”

  “I’m begging you, Duncan,” she cried. “Please stop this investigation. Let me go home and see my mom.”

  Silence greeted her. When Duncan found his voice he said, “Cara, I know you think I’m responsible for the mess you’re in, but I’m not. I can be a total ass, but this ass happens to love you. If I had the power to make this all go away, you would have never spent a single moment in that police station.”

  Cara had never truly hated Duncan until this moment. He was refusing her the one thing she needed most. “She is dying.”

  The line went silent again. Cara imagined the lofty King Alexander sitting on the edge of their massive bed as he decided her fate. He would be bare-chested, wearing only a pair of loose sleep pants and the line of his pelvic bones would be prominent. His abs ripped with muscles as he hunkered over the phone.

  Duncan had been given
everything while Tanner toiled away to make a success of himself. Tanner didn’t have Duncan’s assets, but he possessed something Duncan wouldn’t be able to fathom. Tanner had integrity. She knew she’d made a mistake asking him to go away, but it was a mistake she would have to live with until she received the all clear from her defense team.

  “Did you hear me, Duncan?” Cara pressed. “My mother is dying.”

  Duncan’s voice was barely audible. “I heard.”

  “She needs me. I know you don’t understand what that means. Your mother is different from mine.” Her voice grew loud as her anger mounted. “Mine actually loves me.” Cara couldn’t believe those words had come out of her mouth, but she forged on. She wanted to hurt Duncan as badly as he hurt her. “Inga is loyal to you, but no one in your family knows what it is to truly love someone. To put their needs before your own. To sacrifice yourself for their happiness.” She stood and began to pace her small living room. “You never loved me, and I no longer believe I ever truly loved you. What I loved, was the idea of you. But at least I tried to put your needs and happiness first, even when you went out and screwed every bimbo you could.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  Cara could hear Duncan gearing up for a fight, but it was high time she had the last word. “See! Even now you profess your love, but you don’t have the courtesy to simply let me vent.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter whether I’m right, wrong, or somewhere in between. Right now I need to yell, scream, and stomp my feet, and I needed you to let me do that, but you always come first and nothing else matters.”

  Cara hit end. She threw the phone back onto the coffee table, placed her hands over her face and cried.